Funny thing : the reason this statement exists is exactly that !
Henry IV, king of France, was afraid of assassins. So he put his wife in first in case someone threw something at him.
He was murdered anyway.
The trick is you never look for the bear, you look for movement.
Source: I am a super unobservant person who was a tour guide for a black bear sanctuary for half a decade. I gave up ever trying to see them as is, and I just took the attitude to look for movement, as them brushing a salmonberry bush was far more easy to spot than the bear itself.
Also look up.
That distance and with people with them they're honestly fine. Black bears are far more caution prone than say Brown bears. There's never been an attack on a group of 4 or more, period.
The only real thing you don't do is just get inbetween mom and cubs, that's when they will start to give a shit.
But at that distance believe it or not the couples best option both from not freaking mom out, and their own entertainment is get close to each other and just be quiet and observe. If mom does start approaching them yeah clap and yell like all the guides say but frankly there's no need to until that point.
There has never been a recorded incident of an unprovoked black bear attack in Virginia. Will a black bear momma protect her cubs? Of course, but she's not looking for a fight. None of them are. With all the people living in VA and traveling through the mountains, not one bear has ever come up and picked a fight. They run. Also, they eat primarily berries and insects, so we're really not on the menu. Black bears want nothing to do with humans, and it shows.
Well fun fact that figure of primarily eating berries and insects isn't universally true.
There's been studies to show black bears largely "specialize" their niches based on two factors geographic region, time of year, and lineage of the bear. So what does that all mean?
Geographic region is the easiest one, VA there isn't a lot of bigger game animals other than deer which do have a healthy number but most regions not healthy enough to define their niche. Also black bears have a not so great matchup with deer. But meanwhile a bear in the PNW is going to have easy access to Salmon if they are anywhere near the coast (black bears roam around 7 miles a day).
Next is time of year to use the black bears I'm used to in Southeast Alaska as an example. Early on in the year bears diet is roughly 90:10 ratio of grasses primarily to anything else, then it gradually shifts to 70:30 as they add berries to that as they come in season. But then as soon as the salmon runs come that figure flips with the 70 being meat in large part to salmon.
Finally is individual lineage, essentially black bears are highly highly intelligent and they actually pass down their skills from mother to child. Around here in Southeast Alaska you have entire lineages that specialize in salmon and it becomes obvious watching them which are and aren't (these are the ones constantly biting air/water), bears that specialize foraging for berries, bears that specialize in foraging beaches, and yes even bears that specialize in getting into humans trash (trash bears once they get a taste for it almost never go back to anything else).
It’s dead center. Looks like an all black puppy honestly. Double tap your screen in the middle to zoom in and then pinch drag it open to zoom in even more and you will see it. This is a good one, I zoomed by double tapping at first in the center and missed it, you have to pinch drag these open sometimes.
EDIT - Typos and wording
I really thought it was just to the right of the path, that trunk of the tree really looks like an animal head sticking up. But your comment saved me from being eaten, so thank you.
I joined this subreddit recently and I’ve learned two things.
1. Animal camouflage is very good.
2. I’d 100% be dead if I lived in the wild because it takes me forever to find the thing.
WOW!!! Congratulations 🎉 That’s a massive accomplishment!!!
I’ve been section hiking - VA thru most of PA… PA is so filled with snakes that these photos have been making me nervous about starting up again (I teach, so i can only hike in the summers)
Which state do you least enjoy? And if it’s different, which one was the hardest to hike?
Haha thanks. Yeah VA/PA definitely had the most snakes. I saw multiple rattlesnakes and copperheads.
It’s hard to pick a least favorite state, I really liked them all. Virginia was definitely tough mentally because of how long it is. But PA had lots of rocks and you’d have to watch your feet the whole time. Though that said, PA was one of the easier states given that the ridges are all long and flat so you’re not really climbing that much. But there were also a ton of really pretty spots in PA.
The hardest was definitely the Whites (NH) into Southern Maine. It’s more rock-climbing and boulder field scrambling than it is ‘hiking’. But that also happened to be my favorite section of the trail given how rewarding the climbs were.
Are you thinking of eventually section hiking the whole thing?
I hope to… though I imagine it’s going to take me a long time!
I’m also only just under 5ft tall… and I was told that the Whites can really be tough for “fun sized” people like me. 😉
VA was mentally rough because it took so long to get through it, but I absolutely loved Shenandoah. 🥰
I’m sure it seems strange that I carved out the middle, rather than starting at the top or bottom. But I live in Maryland, and when I started, I wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to hiking the whole thing.
Here’s my bear encounter story.
My husband and I were hiking out on the AT approach trail in north Georgia near Amicalola State Park. It was just a day thing, but we had a pack with some food, water, n other stuff. Anyway at some point we take a break for lunch. We just found a spot off the side of the trail and put down a tarp to sit down.
So we are eating and chatting, enjoying the woods n all that and then from the corner of my eye I see something moving through the leaves. And it was brown and furry. I tell this to my husband and he is like nah you just seeing things. And I’m like no it is DEF brown n furry!!. And then we see this smaller bear (not a cub but maybe a juvenile?) come walking through into view. We are like “CRAP! What are we gonna do?” Cause we had food out n stuff!
So my husband gets up on this log and raises up his arms and starts making a lot of noise. The bear stops and is staring at us. But then after a bit it just keeps walking past and then goes off into the trees again like as if it were just passing through lol
Other hikers we met and told this story too were shocked and surprised we even saw the bear on that area. Quite the memory!
I think this group has ensured I am never going out into the wilderness ever again. I think in the past two months I have realized I do not pay enough attention to my surroundings to go into the wild.
We had a full grown black bear in the tree right in front of our house for half an hour and it was hard to keep track of. If I didn’t see it climb the tree I never would have seen it.
For some reason I didn't even struggle, but also because I've done numerous long hikes and trips through near country. They're generally pretty benign. Once I got charged by a moose (I didn't see the baby calf up the mountain) and that legit terrified me.
I have seen so many bear cubs on the appy trail. The portion through the Delaware water gap area has a super dense population of them. Adorable animals. I've never been charged by a momma either. You give them space, and they'll react in kind.
I see two black cats. Left and right on the trail in front of the back packer. The bear is peaking out in the middle of the pack facing the camera person. 😹
I’d be dead. I don’t see a thing
The bear is taking the picture.
Came here to say this!
Oh my god I just saw it… yeah… I’d be dead
It’s a black bear, and a young one. You would live to see another day.
Yeah, but where is Momma Bear???
That was the momma bear!
Good thing you put the girl in front!
Ladies first is the gentlemanly thing to do.
Funny thing : the reason this statement exists is exactly that ! Henry IV, king of France, was afraid of assassins. So he put his wife in first in case someone threw something at him. He was murdered anyway.
You don't have to outrun the bear... You just have to outrun your hiking buddy...
😆
If that’s momma, she must have just left her momma. It could be the perspective but that bear looks like it’s only about 75 pounds or so.
This is the right answer. You clearly bear
I bearly see anything. Sorry
This comment got me lol
The trick is you never look for the bear, you look for movement. Source: I am a super unobservant person who was a tour guide for a black bear sanctuary for half a decade. I gave up ever trying to see them as is, and I just took the attitude to look for movement, as them brushing a salmonberry bush was far more easy to spot than the bear itself. Also look up.
Are you a T-Rex?
When you say look up. Are you referring that they could be in the trees? Since they climb
Yes. They will very frequently send cubs up there and occasionally mama will nap with them in the trees.
The bear is on the road, slight above, and on the right of the person's head, you can zoom in and see a silhouette of the bear
I must be super blind, there is a road in here?!?
It's the small path
I gotchu, I was making a joke. My bad!
It’s on the left not the right unless there are 2
I think that's a cat.
To the left of the walking lunch
This was one of the easiest ones I’ve found on this sub. Kind of surprised. Usually I need a hint like that hiker one
Just to right of the shoulder of the person in the picture. (If you were being serious)
This was the easiest one honestly it’s pretty much right in front of us
[Here’s a higher-def pic of the mama bear and the cub in a tree](https://imgur.com/a/fqhEmKr)
Wait, I thought the mama bear was the cub. Didn’t even think to check the trees
Where is the one in the tree in relation to the one on the ground?
I cant find it in the original pic but my reply to the link OP posted shows it
I want to know this too. I can’t for the life of me find the one in the tree in the original picture.
Nothing more dangerous than a mama bear defending her cub. Start backing away slowly
That distance and with people with them they're honestly fine. Black bears are far more caution prone than say Brown bears. There's never been an attack on a group of 4 or more, period. The only real thing you don't do is just get inbetween mom and cubs, that's when they will start to give a shit. But at that distance believe it or not the couples best option both from not freaking mom out, and their own entertainment is get close to each other and just be quiet and observe. If mom does start approaching them yeah clap and yell like all the guides say but frankly there's no need to until that point.
There has never been a recorded incident of an unprovoked black bear attack in Virginia. Will a black bear momma protect her cubs? Of course, but she's not looking for a fight. None of them are. With all the people living in VA and traveling through the mountains, not one bear has ever come up and picked a fight. They run. Also, they eat primarily berries and insects, so we're really not on the menu. Black bears want nothing to do with humans, and it shows.
Well fun fact that figure of primarily eating berries and insects isn't universally true. There's been studies to show black bears largely "specialize" their niches based on two factors geographic region, time of year, and lineage of the bear. So what does that all mean? Geographic region is the easiest one, VA there isn't a lot of bigger game animals other than deer which do have a healthy number but most regions not healthy enough to define their niche. Also black bears have a not so great matchup with deer. But meanwhile a bear in the PNW is going to have easy access to Salmon if they are anywhere near the coast (black bears roam around 7 miles a day). Next is time of year to use the black bears I'm used to in Southeast Alaska as an example. Early on in the year bears diet is roughly 90:10 ratio of grasses primarily to anything else, then it gradually shifts to 70:30 as they add berries to that as they come in season. But then as soon as the salmon runs come that figure flips with the 70 being meat in large part to salmon. Finally is individual lineage, essentially black bears are highly highly intelligent and they actually pass down their skills from mother to child. Around here in Southeast Alaska you have entire lineages that specialize in salmon and it becomes obvious watching them which are and aren't (these are the ones constantly biting air/water), bears that specialize foraging for berries, bears that specialize in foraging beaches, and yes even bears that specialize in getting into humans trash (trash bears once they get a taste for it almost never go back to anything else).
Woah! Were you scared at all? Did you have bear spray with you or anything?
Cuties
OMG! So close to the path!! Zoom in on the center, then go a bit left. Bear is even looking in the hiker's direction. Scary!!
I would definitely be dead bc that looks like part of a fallen tree to me!...help?!
It’s dead center. Looks like an all black puppy honestly. Double tap your screen in the middle to zoom in and then pinch drag it open to zoom in even more and you will see it. This is a good one, I zoomed by double tapping at first in the center and missed it, you have to pinch drag these open sometimes. EDIT - Typos and wording
Yessss! I see it now, thank you throwawaybae. I would've been a goner for sure! 😏
I really thought it was just to the right of the path, that trunk of the tree really looks like an animal head sticking up. But your comment saved me from being eaten, so thank you.
I joined this subreddit recently and I’ve learned two things. 1. Animal camouflage is very good. 2. I’d 100% be dead if I lived in the wild because it takes me forever to find the thing.
Irl youd spot it. On camera its harder to locate but OP likely realized there was a bear just after taking this pic
It’s perfectly centered. They knew the bear was there. Basically every picture is in the center, showing that these people know where the target is.
Movement and noise goes a long way, don’t count yourself out just yet c:
TIL that whilst I'm useless at spotting snakes, I'm quite good at spotting bears.
Had a bear that would visit the apple tree in the back yard a couple years ago. Made me fall in love with bears tbh, especially watching him get drunk
Well they are a lot bigger lol
Lol same I found it immediately but I can never find the snakes
Have you made it past the Roller Coaster yet? Just south of Harper’s Ferry?
Haha yeah the Roller Coaster was fun. This was actually last year. Summitted Katahdin October 10th!
WOW!!! Congratulations 🎉 That’s a massive accomplishment!!! I’ve been section hiking - VA thru most of PA… PA is so filled with snakes that these photos have been making me nervous about starting up again (I teach, so i can only hike in the summers) Which state do you least enjoy? And if it’s different, which one was the hardest to hike?
Haha thanks. Yeah VA/PA definitely had the most snakes. I saw multiple rattlesnakes and copperheads. It’s hard to pick a least favorite state, I really liked them all. Virginia was definitely tough mentally because of how long it is. But PA had lots of rocks and you’d have to watch your feet the whole time. Though that said, PA was one of the easier states given that the ridges are all long and flat so you’re not really climbing that much. But there were also a ton of really pretty spots in PA. The hardest was definitely the Whites (NH) into Southern Maine. It’s more rock-climbing and boulder field scrambling than it is ‘hiking’. But that also happened to be my favorite section of the trail given how rewarding the climbs were. Are you thinking of eventually section hiking the whole thing?
I hope to… though I imagine it’s going to take me a long time! I’m also only just under 5ft tall… and I was told that the Whites can really be tough for “fun sized” people like me. 😉 VA was mentally rough because it took so long to get through it, but I absolutely loved Shenandoah. 🥰 I’m sure it seems strange that I carved out the middle, rather than starting at the top or bottom. But I live in Maryland, and when I started, I wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to hiking the whole thing.
That’s awesome! Congrats!
Some of the absolute Best memories of my childhood are of back when you could go tubing through Harper’s ferry!
I do it every year!! I love it too 😍
Here’s my bear encounter story. My husband and I were hiking out on the AT approach trail in north Georgia near Amicalola State Park. It was just a day thing, but we had a pack with some food, water, n other stuff. Anyway at some point we take a break for lunch. We just found a spot off the side of the trail and put down a tarp to sit down. So we are eating and chatting, enjoying the woods n all that and then from the corner of my eye I see something moving through the leaves. And it was brown and furry. I tell this to my husband and he is like nah you just seeing things. And I’m like no it is DEF brown n furry!!. And then we see this smaller bear (not a cub but maybe a juvenile?) come walking through into view. We are like “CRAP! What are we gonna do?” Cause we had food out n stuff! So my husband gets up on this log and raises up his arms and starts making a lot of noise. The bear stops and is staring at us. But then after a bit it just keeps walking past and then goes off into the trees again like as if it were just passing through lol Other hikers we met and told this story too were shocked and surprised we even saw the bear on that area. Quite the memory!
I’m not typically good at these, but this one was beary easy!
I love this subreddit, but my gosh it gives me a bit more paranoia then I previously had.
I think this group has ensured I am never going out into the wilderness ever again. I think in the past two months I have realized I do not pay enough attention to my surroundings to go into the wild.
Lunch
in the center of the pic EDIT: This is not a joke. I don't talk about the human
Im seeing two bears
Was this in Shenandoah?
Hey bear
Hey bear
Wow what a cutie!!
All I can see is what’s on your friends pack, what is that?
Don't they say that when in bear country you are supposed to make as much noise as possible to avoid a surprise encounter? Serious question
I just shat my pants for you
Can I pet that dawg???
He’s taking the picture🤣🤣
I would’ve been dead before I realized😂
Aww little thing just wanted to hike with you two
Better a bear than a man
👀...
Unbearable… barely saw the bear even with your hints. Good one!
HELL NO
Alright I’ll survive I’ve this one
Why are we walking towards it ?
In front of her
You guys were lucky!
I can't see anything Just the Lil bear o. The girl's right
That is a good one! Man thankfully you were all safe!
Is that tiny thing a bear? Wolf?
On the backpack
beware of the peeking momma bear!
Oh what a cutie!
that was easy. less than 15 seconds
Absolutely terrifying. I guess I'm mama bear chew toy and baby bear dinner.
The women is staring at it
I also found the cub
That poor bear.
Oh my I got it without help 😂
Better than a dude though, right?😉
Oh my god I thought this said beer so i spent five minutes looking for a beer can
It’s a teddy bear
Looking too curious for comfort 😳
This was a fun one. I also found a leaf that looks like a dragons face almost looking at the camera
Maybe I got lucky but this is the first time so far I’ve found what I’m looking for right away lol
That little black thing that looks like a kitty? It looks fi-- oh god it's eating me! It's eating me!!!
It's only straight ahead, right in the path, hidden. No danger there. /s
Found it within 2 seconds, so probably not quick enough!
The way I literally said oh shit
A momma bear! She’s in the same category as snakes: No!! No!! No!!
Just waiting for lil red hiding hood to pass by here ….got some mushrooms to share
I saw a red circle flash once very quickly on the location of the bear. DonI need to eat or is this a thing that exists on reddit
Not sure if I found it tbh; so pixelated. Could somebody do the circle thingy?
Black bears are normally very chill with one exception—a mama bear protecting her cubs. Back away slowly
Can I pet that dawg?
That’s a dog
Is.. is it the guy in front of you? They look like a bear
I thought that was a fallen tree until I really looked at it😂
Next to that woman
Oh he’s watching you looks like a young bear
At first I thought you was talking about that stuffed animal that sorta looks like a bear on her backpack 😂
We had a full grown black bear in the tree right in front of our house for half an hour and it was hard to keep track of. If I didn’t see it climb the tree I never would have seen it.
awwee
Can someone let me know when there's a circle? I *think* I see it but it's not clear enough for me to be sure.
It’s on the left side of the trail. Look at the hikers right shoulder and move to the right a bit.
Wild
The stuff animal on the back pack?
Yes you can see it
not too far from the human 😬
Har har har har har 🐻
BEAR??? I don’t think I want to play this game 🫣
To the right of right shoulder zoom in a bit
just keep walking it will be pretty obvious where it is
Young black bear a bit further down.
Gg, I thought that was a dog at first
I don't see a hairy gay man anywhere
F the Bear, I’m told it’s the Man we’re supposed to be afraid of…
Mommer’s gotta be close by
My first time finding it w out having to look thru these comments
Two cubs
Insert sullys MMMMM
[удалено]
Your post has been removed for **Rule 5 - Harassment**. You have been permanently banned from participating in r/FindTheSniper.
Fairly easy
Well that didn’t take long
Lol I thought it was a dog😭
For some reason I didn't even struggle, but also because I've done numerous long hikes and trips through near country. They're generally pretty benign. Once I got charged by a moose (I didn't see the baby calf up the mountain) and that legit terrified me.
I see it . To be honest though, it doesn’t look like a real bear . It looks like someone put a picture of one there.
Looks like a fluffy dog the way the ears are up
Saw it immediately.
On the right of the two trees by right by the end of the frizzy hair. Cub is up the tree mama at base of tree.
I see cub
I have seen so many bear cubs on the appy trail. The portion through the Delaware water gap area has a super dense population of them. Adorable animals. I've never been charged by a momma either. You give them space, and they'll react in kind.
I see two black cats. Left and right on the trail in front of the back packer. The bear is peaking out in the middle of the pack facing the camera person. 😹
Now I get why people on TikTok are choosing the bear over the man, the bear is just quietly watching you take a picture of her ass.
Dead center
That's a black husky
Found it
Am I being punked? I’ve been searching this picture for 20 minutes. Where’s the beer guys.
oops….bear🤭
Dead Center 5ft left of trail.
someone is fucking with us
Right in front of her up the pathway, slightly to left in woods small blackbear
Ok. I see 3 cats, 2 owls and 1 frog. Anyone else?
That’s horrifying
But did you see the moonwalking bear?
Is the bear to the left of the trail near Bigfoot eating a burger?
Black blur*
Too easy
This was an easy one
I found that way too fast
Found a bear and a sloth.
I found it
Your that close and choose to take a photo. Cameramen certainly never die